Rio had a normal expression on his face, but the pain he was experiencing was simply unimaginable to a mortal. His body was a battleground, his life force ebbing and flowing in a dangerous dance. The mana in his body was surging to one place, which meant the other parts of his body were losing mana, the very source of life.
He was experiencing such agony because he had taken much more than was necessary. He had pushed himself to the brink, exceeding the safe limits of his endurance. But this pain wasn't in vain; he had already predicted that this would happen, and he did it for a good reason.
The mana core forming in the 2nd realm unlocks two things for cultivators. First is their mana core and second is their mana core potential. The mana core was the seat of their power, the wellspring from which they could tap into the forces of the universe. The potential, though, that was the true key to unlocking greatness.
If you had gathered more mana than necessary before breaking into the 2nd realm, your mana core potential will increase. At the same time, increasing their mana core growth rate.
The Mana is beyond dimensionality, life and existence. Mana particles are just a fragment of it, it just had one purpose and it is to ensure continuity. It is a purpose given by this universe's Great Dao. Mana was the raw energy of creation, the building blocks of reality itself. And Rio, the God Of Deceit, had one purpose, it is to get stronger as faster he can be. For that he endured the pain, even if it is non-existent for his will and mind, his body still could feel the pain.
He got up to his feet and checked his body with his imagination. He closed his eyes, focusing his senses inward, probing the depths of his being.
The cultivators cannot check their body with their soul, they could just access the information about their body from their minds, but they still needed to visualize it to see it. It was a mental discipline, a way of tuning into the subtle vibrations of the body. It was not hard for Rio to do this kind of thing. He did visualize his interior and external part of his body perfectly, then looked for changes in his body.
While checking his body, he realized that his mana core potential had reached the highest level possible in mana core potential. A surge of excitement ran through him at the realization.
There are 4 ranks of mana potential. First one is called Bronze Rank, second one is Silver Rank, third one is Gold, and the last one is Amethyst Rank. Each rank represented a different level of potential, a different ceiling on one's power. The third one is known as the highest mana core potential possible because they didn't push their body to their limits, thinking that it cannot absorb more than that. But this was obviously wrong, body was evolving itself with new mana so when they pushed their body to its limits, this limit will disappear and a new limit will be formed. Rio had shattered those limits, had broken through to a level few ever achieved.
According to this logic, it is even possible to go further than that but, to control so much mana, their minds will also need to evolve. Unfortunately, mind cannot directly absorb mana and evolve, it can only evolve with the mana in the owner's body's own core. This was the next hurdle for Rio, to raise his mind to match his newly elevated body.
Rio had fed all of his body parts with his new mana core's mana. He could feel the energy coursing through his veins, a river of pure power. Suddenly, his body felt like exceeding its limit, achieving transcendence, his brain, heart and all of his organs seemed to break the shackles of their previous limits. It was a feeling of exhilaration, of becoming more than he was before.
Rio had evolved his brain many times, he even exceeded the level of his previous life because of the mana. In his past life, he had been a being of immense power, but now he was surpassing even that. In Rio's old universe, Qi couldn't make brains evolve, it can only make body parts evolve. Even though his strength wasn't even near to the his previous life's, his intelligence exceeded that. He possessed a clarity of thought, a sharpness of mind that was unmatched. He had a perfect memory, he could recall anything in a microsecond, despite its size. He did know every language from his previous universe also he did learned this world's all languages in a few second, despite it's quantity.
Rio always thought that his mind's strength was more important than his body's strength. Physical power was easy to come by, but true mastery lay in the realm of the mind. And now, he felt like he was true. He had transcended, had become something more than just a cultivator.
You can kill people with your own strength but if you didn't had the smartness to compete with them in terms of outsmarting, you will always be the victim despite your strength. This was the truth of the cultivation world, it always appears like strength was the most important thing but it actually isn't. Rio began to walk to outside of the room 'I really advance as quickly as possible, but firstly, I need to make sure to eliminate all threats for my goal.' He reached the outside of the palace while he was thinking about what should he do.
'The safest option will be controlling the entire world' While thinking about the current situation he came up with a plan to control the world. Ambition burned in his heart, a desire not just for power, but for true dominance. 'Even though Advanced Dao Sect is the most powerful sect in the universe, we probably can't handle being the enemy of an entire world so the best option will be causing internal conflicts in the sect and infiltrate into the sect.' He would play on their fears, their rivalries, and slowly but surely bend them to his will. He finished planning and immediately decided to start his plan.
In a room, there was one young man and eleven middle-aged man sitting quietly waiting for the young man to speak. The air was thick with anticipation, with the weight of the young man's presence. The young man, who is dressed with white, even though he doesn't look like more than 10 years old, it was obvious that he was a important figure in middle-aged men's eyes. There was an aura about him, a sense of command that belied his tender years.
He was Rio, he wanted to talk with sect's master and elders, he gathered them to main hall to speak about his future plans. He looked at them with eyes that were ancient, eyes that saw right through them. He showed a pretty smile "I need all of you to do something for me, is that fine?" The middle-aged men were a bit shocked, this guy in front of them was around 6 years old, and he was planning to give mission to sect's upper echelon's, and even the sect master! But they could not deny the authority in his voice, the certainty of his words.
But Rezkin, Rio's father was always telling Rio's smartness and intelligence, so they already had high impression of him. They knew that this was no ordinary child, that Rio was a prodigy beyond compare. Rezkin said with a lovely smile "Of course Rio, we will fulfill our sect's Sacred Son request" he lost a bit of his pride while saying this, but he already know that Rio is no simple child and needed to be trusted. He was the father, but in this moment, he was also the disciple.
The atmosphere in the room was filled with expectation. They leaned forward, their hearts pounding in their chests, as they waited for the words of their young master. The young man coughed "Thank you, father. Now, please listen to me carefully" said while looking at them seriously. His eyes were cold, his gaze piercing, as he began to lay out his vision, his plan for dominance.